Friday, July 16, 2010

Don't Just Give a Man a Fish Teach Him How to Fish

In the TANF program of welfare they do not support the need for further education and/or job training if you are receiving financial help. Their mind set is that "any job is a good job." This really blows my mind because with that mentality they will most likely forever be stuck in the financial situation that they are in. Most likely, the reason they are needing this assistance is because they do not have the education and training to obtain a higher paying job so they are stuck working a minimum wage low grade job. Its not like they need to go through medical school and become doctors but with a few months to a year of good training they could have the credentials to really boost their income and push for a higher job. Instead of paying five years for them while they are working a dead end job, pay a couple months or a years worth or money for them to get training so they can live on their own. I think this could really turn around the problem and help people get out of the "rut" that they may currently be stuck in. People need to learn that its not about getting stuff handed to them instead its about getting the assistance to make a change in their life so then they can live self sufficiently. I understand that people go through hard time and that it can be really hard to support a family and I am not saying that the government does not need to assist people at all but what about when the government leaves, and all they have done for these people is given them temporary relief.

It is like the whole story about a fisherman not catching a fish for a person instead he teaches the person how to fish so he himself can catch as many fish as he needs/wants. That is the mentality that I have because I think it is counter productive to temporarily help someone with out aiding them in the right direction to get out of their situation. When people are in that tight of a financial situation its hard to look at money and say this is going to schooling and training when you have bills to pay. Instead that is where the government should come in and they should relieve some financial stress for the person to focus and try and complete their training in order to better their life.

1 comment:

My 8th grade history teacher had to say that phrase 100 times while she was teaching about the FDR new deal programs. Its so true and something I really wish would happen in order to benefit not only the governments money but the individuals themselves.